20 October 2017
Sabah opposition leader and former Malaysian Cabinet minister Mohd Shafie Apdal was arrested by the anti-graft commission on Thursday 19 October 2017. The commission was investigating alleged $350 million (RM1.5 billion) in government funds siphoned off when he was rural development minister. Shafie Apdal is the Presidet of Warisan Party.
The Malaysiakini news website reported that Mohd Shafie Apdal was hospitalised late Thursday 19 October 2017, for high blood pressure after being arrested by the Malaysian anti-graft commission.
Party deputy president Darell Leiking, said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had requested presence at the MACC’s office in Kota Kinabalu. Shafie Apdal flew in from Kuala Lumpur for the meeting. He is expected to be taken to the Kota Kinabalu High Court on Friday 20 October 2017, to be remanded.
Party member Amarjit Singh, who is an engineer, has been detained at the MACC office He is the tenth person arrested to assist the MACC’s probe into the misappropriation of federal funds for rural projects in Sabah.
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Shafie’s brother Yusof, a state assemblyman who is Umno chief for Silam in Sabah remains in custody. His other brother Hamid was released on bail yesterday.
The agency’s probe involves some 70 projects worth RM7.5bil funded by the federal government to provide roads, water and electricity to rural areas in Sabah between 2009 and 2015.
The Sabah State Water Department corruption probe from 2015 to 2016 by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was over the alleged abuse of power inside the Sabah State Water Department resulted in the arrest of two senior officers in the state agency.
In another development in Kula Lumpur, Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali said, on 19 October 2017, a task force was formed to closely monitor the investigations on the allegation of extramarital affair against the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief, Dzulkifli Ahmad.
A video which went viral on social media showed a man resembling the anti-graft chief with a married woman in Bali.
Mohamed Apandi Ali was made Attorney-General by Prime MInister Najib Razak to hush the 1MDB probe in which PM was accused of siphoning $1 billion of state funds. Shafie Apdal a close ally of PM Najib formerly.
Umno Supreme Council member Mohd Puad Zarkashi has also condemned those who defamed Dzulkifli with the “overly-sensationalised story”.
“It was made with the intention of blackmailing (the officer and) MACC into not taking firm action in fighting corruption involving certain prominent political figures,” Puad added.
The recent meeting Najib had with US President Trump went smoothly in diplomatic terms. Both leaders treated each other warmly and discussed agreeable agenda items. In the public meeting Trump extolled Malaysia’s role in investing in the United States, countering ISIS, and limiting its ties with North Korea. The Malaysian prime minister in turn offered “a strong value proposition” to the United States in terms of helping boost the US economy and being a loyal partner in eradicating terrorism.
Mohd Shafie Apdal
The US Justice Department is in the midst of civil lawsuits seeking to seize US assets worth about $1.7 billion linked to 1MDB. But the subject was conveniently left out in all official proceedings.
